And there’s little point taking lozenges

NHS watchdog NICE has said there is little point in using medicated lozenges for a sore throat because they ‘only help to reduce pain by a small amount’.

Companies claim the products, which usually include a mild anaesthetic or antiseptic, provide relief for sore throats and nasal congestion. But the NICE guidance says GPs should tell patients the lozenges will do very little for their pain. Cough sweets – which contain no drugs – are unproven to work at all.

Strepsils, owned by Reckitt Benckiser, is the most sold sore-throat medicine in the world. It declined to comment but the Proprietary Association of Great Britain, which represents manufacturers of over-the-counter medicine, said lozenges were ‘an appropriately safe and effective way to provide relief’.